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1921–22 NHL season
1921–22 NHL season
League	National Hockey League
Sport	Ice hockey
Duration	December 17, 1921 – March 13, 1922
Number of games	24
Number of teams	4
Regular season
Season champions	Ottawa Senators
Top scorer	Punch Broadbent (Senators)
O'Brien Cup
Champions	Toronto St. Patricks
Runners-up	Ottawa Senators
NHL seasons
	← 1920–21 1922–23 →

The 1921–22 NHL season was the fifth season of the National Hockey League (NHL). Four teams each played 24 games. The league dropped the split season and the two top teams played off for the league championship. The second-place Toronto St. Patricks defeated the first-place Ottawa Senators for the league championship.

For the first four seasons of the NHL, the winner of the league playoffs had faced the winner of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA) for the Stanley Cup. That changed this season with the introduction of another professional hockey league called the Western Canada Hockey League (WCHL). Now, three leagues were competing for the coveted Stanley Cup. The winner of a playoff between the PCHA and the WCHL travelled to Toronto to play off for the Stanley Cup. The St. Patricks defeated the Vancouver Millionaires to win the Stanley Cup.

League business

This was the first season away from the split season used in the NHA and the first four NHL seasons. Under the old split system, the winner of each half of the season would face each other in the playoffs. If the same team won both halves, then there would be no league playoffs and that team would simply move on to the Stanley Cup series. For the new system, the top two teams at the end of the season squared off against each other in a two-game total goals series for the chance to move on to the Stanley Cup series.^[1]

The NHL adopted the penalty rules of the amateur Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) for this season. Starting this season, there was no substitution for penalized players and no deferred penalties This was therefore the first season of the power play in the NHL. Penalized players immediately had to serve their penalties in the penalty box. Also, the minor penalty was reduced to two minutes, and major fouls were assessed at five minutes. A match penalty was now awarded for deliberate attempts to injure.^[2]

Frank Calder, NHL president, again declared Sprague Cleghorn property of the Hamilton Tigers and Cleghorn balked at the move. The Tigers asked Cleghorn where he wanted to play other than Ottawa, and he expressed interest in joining his brother on the Montreal Canadiens and so prior to the start of this season, the NHL's first multiple-player trade in its history was made when Billy Coutu and Sprague Cleghorn of the Hamilton Tigers were traded to the Montreal Canadiens for Harry Mummery, Amos Arbour, and Cully Wilson.

Canadiens owner George Kennedy never recovered from the influenza he contracted in 1919, and died on October 19, 1921, at age 39. His widow sold the Canadiens to a unit that would be known affectionately as the Three Musketeers of owners, Leo Dandurand, Louis Letourneau, and Joseph Cattarinich. Dandurand became manager and coach, and immediately there were problems between him and Newsy Lalonde. At one point, Dandurand accused Lalonde of not trying, and also the fans started to boo their old hero. Finally, Lalonde walked out on the team. NHL president Frank Calder mediated the dispute and Lalonde returned to the team. But his days in Montreal were numbered.

Regular season

After a fairly impressive season for the Toronto St. Patricks, the St. Pats goaltender Jake Forbes refused to play after being denied a raise, and was suspended for the season.^[3] John Ross Roach took over in goal.

Punch Broadbent was the star this year, as he scored 27 goals in 16 consecutive games en route ^[3] to a 32-goal campaign. Broadbent led the league in goals, assists and points.^[3] His Ottawa team finished first, too.

On February 1, Sprague Cleghorn almost wiped out the Ottawa team singlehandedly. He cut Eddie Gerard and Cy Denneny and charged Frank Nighbor. All three players missed two games because of injuries and Cleghorn drew a match penalty and a $30 fine. Ottawa police tried to arrest him in wake of his one-man war.^[3]

Final standings

National Hockey League
	GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA
Ottawa Senators	24	14	8	2	30	106	84
Toronto St. Patricks	24	13	10	1	27	98	97
Montreal Canadiens	24	12	11	1	25	88	94
Hamilton Tigers	24	7	17	0	14	88	105

^[4] Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against
Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Playoffs

Starting in the Western Canada Hockey League, the Calgary Tigers lost to the Regina Capitals in a match-up to determine second place. The Capitals then went on to beat the first place Edmonton Eskimos in that league's first championship series. Over in the Pacific Coast Hockey Association, once again, the Vancouver Millionaires faced the Seattle Metropolitans for their league championship. The Mets had the better regular season record, but the Millionaires won both games of the playoffs by 1–0 scores. The Millionaires were then matched up against the Capitals to see who would go on to play against the winner of the NHL's playoffs. Vancouver beat Regina in the two-game total goals series.

NHL Championship

The first-place Ottawa Senators played off against the second-place Toronto St. Patricks in a two-game total goals series for the O'Brien Cup. The St. Pats used a strategy of icing the puck to defend their lead.

Toronto St. Patricks vs. Ottawa Senators

Date	Home	Score	Away	Score	Notes
March 11	Toronto St. Patricks	5	Ottawa Senators	4
March 13	Ottawa Senators	0	Toronto St. Patricks	0

Toronto wins total goals series five goals to four.

Stanley Cup Finals

March 17	Vancouver Millionaires		4–3	Toronto St. Patricks	Mutual Street Arena	Recap
Jack Adams (1) – 02:30 Jack Adams (2) – 05:30 Mickey MacKay (1) – 14:30		First period		01:07 – Babe Dye (3) 10:30 – Ken Randall (2)
No scoring		Second period		08:00 – Babe Dye (4)
Jack Adams (3) – 16:30		Third period		No scoring
Hugh Lehman		Goalie stats		John Ross Roach

March 21	Vancouver Millionaires		1–2	OT	Toronto St. Patricks	Mutual Street Arena	Recap
Jack Adams (4) – 13:00		First period			No scoring
No scoring		Second period			No scoring
No scoring		Third period			01:45 – Corb Denneny (2)
No scoring		First overtime period			04:50 – Babe Dye (5)
Hugh Lehman		Goalie stats			John Ross Roach

March 23	Vancouver Millionaires		3–0	Toronto St. Patricks	Mutual Street Arena	Recap
Lloyd Cook (1) – 15:00		First period		No scoring
Jack Adams (5) – 04:00		Second period		No scoring
Eddie Oatman (1) – 18:00		Third period		No scoring
Hugh Lehman		Goalie stats		John Ross Roach

March 25	Vancouver Millionaires		0–6	Toronto St. Patricks	Mutual Street Arena	Recap
No scoring		First period		12:00 – Lloyd Andrews (1) 15:00 - Babe Dye (6)
No scoring		Second period		06:00 – Babe Dye (7) 10:00 – Lloyd Andrews (2) 18:00 – Corb Denneny (3)
No scoring		Third period		17:00 – Rod Smylie (1)
Hugh Lehman		Goalie stats		John Ross Roach

March 28	Vancouver Millionaires		1–5	Toronto St. Patricks	Mutual Street Arena	Recap
No scoring		First period		03:00 – Babe Dye (8) 04:20 – Babe Dye (9)
No scoring		Second period		07:00 – Corb Denneny (4)
Jack Adams (6) – 18:15		Third period		01:15 – Babe Dye (10) 08:15 – Babe Dye (11)
Hugh Lehman		Goalie stats		John Ross Roach

Toronto won series 3–2

NHL Playoff scoring leader

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points

Player	Team	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Babe Dye	Toronto St. Patricks	7	11	1	12

Awards

O'Brien Cup — Toronto St. Patricks

Player statistics

Scoring leaders

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points

Player	Team	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Punch Broadbent	Ottawa Senators	24	32	14	46	28
Cy Denneny	Ottawa Senators	22	27	12	39	20
Cecil Dye	Toronto St. Patricks	24	31	7	38	39
Harry Cameron	Toronto St. Patricks	24	18	17	35	22
Joe Malone	Hamilton Tigers	24	24	7	31	4
Corbett Denneny	Toronto St. Patricks	24	19	9	28	28
Reg Noble	Toronto St. Patricks	24	17	11	28	19
Sprague Cleghorn	Montreal Canadiens	24	17	9	26	80
George Boucher	Ottawa Senators	23	13	12	25	12
Odie Cleghorn	Montreal Canadiens	23	21	3	24	26

Leading goaltenders

GP = Games Played, GA = Goals Against, SO = Shutouts, GAA = Goals Against Average

Name	Team	GP	Mins	W	L	T	GA	SO	GAA
Ivan Mitchell	Toronto St. Patricks	2	120	2	0	0	6	0	3.00
Clint Benedict	Ottawa Senators	24	1510	14	8	2	84	2	3.34
Georges Vezina	Montreal Canadiens	24	1469	12	11	1	94	0	3.84
John Ross Roach	Toronto St. Patricks	22	1340	11	10	1	91	0	4.07
Howie Lockhart	Hamilton Tigers	24	1409	6	17	0	103	0	4.39

Source: NHL^[5]

Coaches

Hamilton Tigers: Joe Malone
Montreal Canadiens: Newsy Lalonde
Ottawa Senators: Pete Green
Toronto St. Patricks: George O'Donoghue

Debuts

The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1921–22 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):

Billy Boucher, Montreal Canadiens
Frank Boucher, Ottawa Senators
King Clancy, Ottawa Senators
John Ross Roach, Toronto St. Patricks

The last remaining active player to kick off their NHL career this season was Frank Boucher, who played his final NHL game in the 1943–44 season, although he missed the 1922–23, 1923–24, 1924–25, 1925–26, 1938–39, 1939–40, 1940–41, 1941–42, and 1942–43 seasons.

Last games

The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1921–22 (listed with their last team):

Free agency

Date	Players	Team
December 5, 1921	John Ross Roach	Toronto St. Patricks
December 13, 1921	Billy Boucher	Montreal Canadiens
December 14, 1921	King Clancy	Ottawa Senators

Transactions

November 9, 1921	To Hamilton Tigers Cully Wilson	To Toronto St. Patricks Ed Carpenter
November 26, 1921	To Hamilton Tigers Amos Arbour Harry Mummery	To Montreal Canadiens Sprague Cleghorn

References

Coleman, Charles (1966). The Trail of the Stanley Cup, vol. 1, 1893–1926 inc.
Diamond, Dan, ed. (2000). Total Hockey. Total Sports. ISBN 1-892129-85-X.
Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Dan Diamond & Associates. ISBN 978-1-894801-22-5.
Dryden, Steve, ed. (2000). Century of hockey. Toronto, ON: McClelland & Stewart Ltd. ISBN 0-7710-4179-9.
Fischler, Stan; Fischler, Shirley; Hughes, Morgan; Romain, Joseph; Duplacey, James (2003). The Hockey Chronicle: Year-by-Year History of the National Hockey League. Publications International Inc. ISBN 0-7853-9624-1.
McFarlane, Brian (1973). The Story of the National Hockey League. New York, NY: Pagurian Press. ISBN 0-684-13424-1.
Ross, J. Andrew (2015). Joining the Clubs: The Business of the National Hockey League to 1945. Syracuse University Press. ISBN 978-0-8156-3383-9.

Notes

^ McFarlane 1973, p. 31.
^ Ross 2015, p. 79.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Dryden 2000, p. 24.
^ Standings: NHL Public Relations Department (2008). Dave McCarthy; et al. (eds.). THE NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE Official Guide & Record Book/2009. National Hockey League. p. 146. ISBN 978-1-894801-14-0.
^ "1921–22 Regular Season – Goalie Season Stats Leaders". NHL. Retrieved December 3, 2011.